Journal Entry:
Louise Sexton - Wales - 2012-01-31

What was your personal highlight of the day/week?

My highlight of this week was when we saw the northern pride of lions, Kiara the tagged lioness, four now rather large cubs another adulf female and the male, Marakele! They were amazing!!! all lying together under some trees. Kiara rolling around on the ground like a proper pussy-cat! It was an extra special occasion for me as when I was at Welgevonden in August I saw the cubs when they were about 3 months old and now seeing them nearly six months later was fab! and how they have grown! but still having that cub like look to their faces! They were fantastic! Marakele, as befitting his status, was sat away from the group, beneath a tree of his own. He is a fantastic looking male, with a dark, luxurious mane and a beautiful profile. This was definately my highlight this week. Closely followed, although, by seeing a baby rhino with his/her mother, who was very young indeed!

What interesting fact did you learn today/this week?

An interesting fact that I learnt this week was how to tell the difference between male and female zebra. If you look at their back end you will see a black stripe between their back legs underneath the tail. Now if that stripe is wide then its a female but if it is narrow that its a male! Obviously this works if you cant see other parts of their anatomy!!

What was your favourite species that you saw today/this week?

My favourite species this week could easily be lions and of course the elephants or rhinos but I am going to choose the black backed jackal. You always see only a quick glimpse of it, running across the road or into the tall grass. It looks similar to a small dog or fox and is brown with, as the name suggests, a black back. I would like to see more of it and maybe get a picture too!!